Police say two decades of enforcing double demerits has resulted in at least 433 fewer deaths on New South Wales roads during holiday periods.

NSW Police, Ambulance NSW and the Centre for Road Safety today launched Operation Tortoise in a bid to slow drivers down these Easter holidays.

Assistant Police Commissioner Michael Corboy said there would be more than 1,300 officers patrolling the roads.

"Targeting speeding drivers, targeting drink drivers, targeting drug drivers. And with the double demerit points we will also be targeting seat belts, helmets and we will be particularly on the lookout for people using mobile phones and driving whilst distracted," he said.

While speeding is still the number one killer on the state's roads, police will be also on the lookout for drivers using their mobile phones illegally over the Easter holiday period.

Assistant Commissioner Corboy said catching people touching their phones while behind the wheel was a top priority.

"[We're] not only concerned about the increased use of texting but also social media use whilst driving and in fact, our officers have booked people for watching videos and also watching movies while they are driving," he said.

The NSW Government added illegal mobile phone use to the list of offences subject to double-demerit points in December 2015.

Bernard Carlon from the Centre for Road Safety said it was becoming a problem on our roads.

"We know it takes you more than 23 times longer to respond when using a mobile phone for texting, so we have seen an increase in injures and fatalities as a result of using a mobile phone in a car during the last five years. So that's something we really want to stamp out," he said.

Double-demerit points will be in force from midnight Wednesday night until midnight Monday night and drivers who use their mobile behind the wheel in that time will lose eight demerit points.

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